Leaders warned against 'flaming prejudice' in China influence debate

Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane is calling on political leaders to conduct the debate on foreign interference “without flaming any prejudice” against Chinese Australians.

In a speech to be delivered on Thursday, Mr Soutphommasane will warn that "many, many" Chinese Australians have serious concerns about prejudice being stoked in the foreign interference debate. He singles out prominent author Clive Hamilton as flirting with “fears about yellow hordes”.

Separately to Fairfax Media on Wednesday, Mr Soutphommasane said politicians needed to avoid inflammatory language on the issue.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr Tim Soutphommasane.

Photo: Andrew Meares

“Our political leaders must strike a judicious balance in protecting our national interest, without inflaming any prejudice,” he said. “It’s tricky work, but it can be done. It’s best done through avoiding excited rhetoric, or anything that blurs the line between politics and race.”

The Turnbull government introduced draft laws late last year to tackle what it has called an unprecedented threat of foreign interference and influence in Australian politics. While it did not name countries, security agencies are known to be most concerned about the activities of China.

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Dr Soutphommasane says in his speech at Western Sydney University that foreign interference is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with by security agencies.

But he adds that “we need to bring down the temperature”.

Clive Hamilton who has written a book on Chinese Communist Party influence.

While some Chinese Australians themselves are worried about foreign influence, “there are many, many others who hold more serious concerns about the consequences of stoking anti-Chinese prejudices”, he says.

Professor Hamilton, a scholar in public ethics at Charles Sturt University, has just published the book Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia, detailing Beijing’s methods of shaping Australian politics through some community groups, donations and business networks.

Dr Soutphommasane says Professor Hamilton’s book is an example of “sensationalism now creeping into mainstream commentary”, in particular its references to “panda huggers” and “China’s fifth column in Australia”.

“Such language flirts with exciting an anti-Chinese or Sinophobic racial sentiment,” he says.

“It recalls old fears about yellow hordes overwhelming a vulnerable white Australia. It smacks of the “yellow peril” revisited.”